Main Learning Outcome for this Assignment:
Write an account of a song’s argument, including elements such as author, audience, context, purpose, central claim, evidence, and persuasive strategies.
Prompt:
Currently, the hip-hop community is divided between “conscious” rap music vs. Mumble rap, or rap music that is deemed to lack substance. As we have discussed in class, this has manifested in the current feud between artists J. Cole and Lil Pump. Hip-hop is full of persuasive strategies. For this reason, please pick a song and write an account of the artist’s main argument, along with what claims and evidence he/she/they provides. I strongly recommend finding a song with a clear argument, otherwise, writing 4-6 pages might feel like 100.
Your project must provide an academic introduction that establishing the territory, provides a brief overview of the rhetorical situation, and introduces the author’s major argument/claim.
The bulk of the essay will be your analysis of their rhetorical strategies, evidence and how these things help their main argument, along with why the evidence is (or is not) effective. In addition, you will analyze the context and occasion of the piece as well as if it adds or detracts from the effectiveness.
Furthermore, you will conclude with a brief restatement of your piece, consider the implications for this piece in current society, and explore the significance of your analysis.
Expectations:
* 4-6 pages (at least a FULL 4 pages) in which you attend to each aspect of the prompt
* Correct MLA format
* Quotations and citations used correctly (again, MLA)
USE the song called”friends” by J. Cole